CALS NewsLine from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

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IN THIS NEWSLINE ISSUED April 24, 2008:

1. 1 TREE TOUR ON APRIL 26 HIGHLIGHTS ARBOR DAY AT UA
2. 2 CHECK IRRIGATION SYSTEM NOW
3. 3 PALO VERDE TREES IN THE URBAN LANDSCAPE
4. 4 UNIVERSITY AWARDS OF DISTINCTION
5. 5 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: AN ANTIDOTE TO DIABETES
6. 6 PETSMART ENDOWS SECOND FACULTY CHAIR IN NORTON SCHOOL
7. 7 REAL-TIME INTERNET COURSE FROM ARIZONA TO JORDAN
8. 8 SCIENCE SATURDAY AT BIOSPHERE 2 APRIL 26
9. 9 KARSTEN CENTER TURFGRASS RESEARCH FIELD DAY ON MAY 15
10. 10 RACE TRACK INDUSTRY PROGRAM HOSTS FILM SCREENING APRIL 28
11. 11 DESERT HORTICULTURAL CONFERENCE MAY 16 IN TUCSON
12. 12 CONFERENCE ON COLORADO RIVER'S IMPORTANCE TO ARIZONA JUNE 24
13. 13 LOW VOLTAGE HELPS INCREASE CHEMICAL YIELDS
14. 14 CALS IN THE NEWS

TREE TOUR ON APRIL 26 HIGHLIGHTS ARBOR DAY AT UA

Saturday is Arbor Day and The University of Arizona and Trees For Tucson will host a tour of the great trees on the UA campus. The walk through campus will pinpoint historic and significant trees that grace the school's grounds.

The walking tour starts at 9 a.m. at the Arizona State Museum, located just east of the UA Main Gate at Park Avenue and University Boulevard. The tour will cover about 1.5 miles and will take approximately two to three hours. The cost is $15, which includes materials from Trees of Tucson.

The UA is home to an amazing collection of desert-adapted and arid land trees, the oldest of which were planted more than a century ago. Five are on the National Register of Historic Trees. The UA's west campus is home to many of the older and larger trees and some trees on campus are found nowhere else in the region.

One example is the Phoenix dactylifera, a variety of date palm, located just east of Old Main. The palm was a gift from Iraq in 1955, given as thanks for the UA's help in creating an agriculture college there. The UA Campus Arboretum has since 2002 been a member of the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.

More information, including plant walks and wildlife maps, is on the Campus Arboretum Web site at http://arboretum.arizona.edu/index.html

Elizabeth Davison, UA Campus Arboretum, edavison@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://uanews.org/node/19354

2 CHECK IRRIGATION SYSTEM NOW

The worst time to discover your irrigation system isn't working is in May or June. The heat and sun conspire to cook plants that need regular irrigation but aren't getting it due to a failed watering system.

So now is the time to inspect and make any necessary irrigation repairs. With drip irrigation, leaks are common and often hard to find.

To find out what to look for and what to do, read the rest of the article that appeared in the April 20 Arizona Daily Star, at the link below.

John Begeman, Arizona Cooperative Extension Pima County, jbegeman@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/234828.php

3 PALO VERDE TREES IN THE URBAN LANDSCAPE

Palo verdes are popular, drought-tolerant landscape trees in the genus Parkinsonia (formerly Cercidium) and the family Fabaceae. The cultivated palo verdes range from large shrubs to medium-sized trees and are native to the Sonoran Desert with P. praecox extending from Mexico to South America.

Along with saguaro cactus, they are a staple of the Sonoran Desert and are used in many xeriscape plantings. Parkinsonia florida, blue palo verde, and P. microphylla, the Foothill palo verde, share the title of Arizona's official state tree.

Palo verde trees prefer full sun and well-drained soil in cultivated landscapes. Growth rates vary depending on supplemental irrigation and species. Conspicuous green, smooth bark dominates the plant's appearance during periods of drought and cold when trees are leafless and gives them their common name "palo verde" which in Spanish means "green stick."

To read more about palo verdes in the Sonoran Desert, and which one might be the right choice for your yard, read the rest of the article from Aridus, a newsletter published through the Desert Legume Program, at the link below.

Ursula Schuch, Department of Plant Sciences, ukschuch@ag.arizona.edu;
Jack Kelly, Arizona Cooperative Extension, Pima County, jackelly@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/desertlegumeprogram/pdf/aridus20-1.pdf

4 UNIVERSITY AWARDS OF DISTINCTION

UA Faculty members were honored for their achievements at the annual Awards of Distinction Ceremony, which took place in the Student Union Memorial Center Grand Ballroom.

"It's important to take a night off to recognize the excellence and celebrate the accomplishments of the UA faculty," said Eugene Sander, executive vice president and provost and master of ceremonies.

The introduction of the ceremony featured recognition of former UA President Henry Koffler and his wife, Phyllis, who were in attendance, and a short speech by UA President Robert Shelton.

Three Henry and Phyllis Koffler Prizes were awarded throughout the evening. Each recipient was awarded $10,000, a medallion and a certificate for their achievement in their award category.

The Public Service/Outreach Koffler Prize went to professor John Marchello of the Department of Animal Sciences. Marchello, the founder of the UA Rodeo Club back in 1967, was lauded for numerous contributions in the areas of food safety and youth and public education throughout his 42-year career as a member of the UA faculty.

The Distinguished Professor Awards were presented to Paul Wilson, a professor of agriculture and resource economics, and Carrol McLaughlin of the School of Music.

In addition to being granted the prestigious title of Distinguished Professor, the award carries a $5,000 increase in base salary.

"It's a wonderful honor," Wilson said. "I'm part of a great department with a lot of outstanding teachers."

Eugene Sander, University of Arizona, egsander@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://media.wildcat.arizona.edu/media/storage/paper997/news/2008/04/17/News/Faculty.Take.Home.Prestigious.Honors-3331891.shtml

5 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: AN ANTIDOTE TO DIABETES

A balloon floats on the breeze created by an overhead fan. Squealing, a toddler chases after the balloon, his mother batting it back to him. A senior citizen looking on from her wheelchair joins in, scooting forward with her feet as the balloon brushes her arm. This simple and fun activity can take place just about anywhere. But on a reservation that winds along the Colorado River in western Arizona, it is helping people learn how to keep diabetes at bay.

Diabetes is a serious health concern for Americans from many walks of life, but it is of particular concern for American Indians. Members of the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) are learning about its warning signs and the important role proper nutrition and physical activity have in avoiding or controlling its debilitating effects.

Read the rest of this article, that appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of the CALS magazine Arizona Land & People, at the link below.

Robin Cooper, La Paz County Cooperative Extension, robincc@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/landandpeople/fall2007/article5.pdf

6 PETSMART ENDOWS SECOND FACULTY CHAIR IN NORTON SCHOOL

Pet supply retail giant PetSmart Inc. has signed a $1 million endowment agreement with The University of Arizona's Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing. This is PetSmarts second major gift to the UA.

The new pact establishes the PetSmart Endowed Professorship of Practice in Retailing and Consumer Sciences. This endowed professorship was established to recognize and promote excellence in undergraduate education in retailing and consumer sciences, said Soyeon Shim, director of the John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, which houses the Lundgren Center. The Norton School is part of the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

"The inaugural recipient of the named professorship of practice will be soon announced by the University," Shim said. The first gift in 2004, also for $1 million, funded the PetSmart Distinguished Professorship, supporting a research-oriented position on the Norton faculty.

The UA also will use the new PetSmart gift to launch the new Career-Wise Cats Companion Animal Track program, said Melinda Burke, director of Lundgren Center. The program will introduce UA students to careers in retailing, with a major emphasis on the PetSmart model.

Soyeon Shim, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, shim@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://uanews.org/node/19200

7 REAL-TIME INTERNET COURSE FROM ARIZONA TO JORDAN

Tucson, Arizona and Irbid, Jordan lie 10 time zones apart at 32 degrees latitude. Jordans climate zones resemble those in desert Arizona, where the drier areas in particular have problems with crops damaged from salt buildup in soils. Irrigation is a particular challenge.

Research and teaching conducted at the University of Arizona in Tucson and the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in Irbid offer applied approaches to similar agricultural and environmental problems.
By collaborating internationally and sharing solutions, faculty and students at both universities can make a difference in how quickly new methods and technologies are adopted in their own areas and also in other parts of the world. Real-time Internet classes speed this process by eliminating travel, housing, visas, international tuition and other requirements that take time and cost money.

That was the aim of a real-time Internet civil engineering course offered between the UA and JUST from October 2006 to January 2007. A first for both institutions, 18 students in Jordan participated in a class transmitted live from Tucson as they sat in their classroom in Irbid.

The rest of this article, that appeared in the fall issue of the CALS magazine Arizona Land & People, is at the link below.

Robert Freitas, bobf@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/landandpeople/fall2007/article9.pdf

8 SCIENCE SATURDAY AT BIOSPHERE 2 APRIL 26

The B2 Institute inaugurated its new Science Saturday outreach program this spring, a series of public lectures and other special events on the Biosphere 2 campus. This coming Saturday, April 26th, at 1:00 PM, the speakier will be David Breshears, professor in the UA School of Natural Resources, who will discuss "Hot Times and Dead Trees: Change in the West."

For background information on Breshears' research see http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/general/resrpt2005/article14_2005.pdf

Admission to the talk is included with the cost of admission to Biosphere 2. A membership program is also available, which offers unlimited annual visits to Biosphere 2 as well as additional benefits.

Pierre Meystre, B2 Institute, www.B2institute.org
To learn more: http://www.b2science.org/b2institutesatsci.html

9 KARSTEN CENTER TURFGRASS RESEARCH FIELD DAY ON MAY 15

Find out more about using electronic field equipment for turfgrass evaluation and analysis at the annual Turfgrass Research Field Day, held on Thursday, May 15. The event will run from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the University of Arizona's Karsten Turfgrass Research Center in Tucson, and includes lunch.

The field day includes a technology tour and demonstrations on soil moisture sensing, measuring soil salinity, smart controllers for improving turfgrass irrigation, infrared thermometry to assess plant stress, and other topics.

A full schedule is at the link below.

David Kopec, Karsten Turfgrass Research Center, dkopec@ag.arizona.edu
Kai Umeda, Maricopa County Cooperative Extension, kumeda@cals.arizona.edu

To learn more: http://turf.arizona.edu/KarstenTurfgrassResearchFieldDay08.pdf

10 RACE TRACK INDUSTRY PROGRAM HOSTS FILM SCREENING APRIL 28

On April 28, 2008, the Race Track Industry Program at the University of Arizona will host a special one-night screening of filmmakers Brad and John Hennegan's riveting Kentucky Derby documentary, THE FIRST SATURDAY IN MAY. This award winning documentary chronicles the journey of a diverse cast of six hard-working trainers and their jockeys in pursuit of horse racing's Holy Grail--the Kentucky Derby, "the greatest two minutes in sports."

Seating to this event is limited and tickets are available on a first-come basis to the 7 p.m. screening at The University of Arizona's Gallagher Theater. Admission is $5.00 and features a post-film question and answer session with Brad Hennegan. The official commemorative Derby glass will be included with the first 125 tickets. For more information call Wendy Davis 621-5663.

Established in 1974, The University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program offers both a Bachelors and Masters Degree program with an emphasis on the racing industry. It is the only program of its kind and has produced Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher, two of the world's leading trainers.

Wendy Davis, Race Track Industry Program, (520) 621-5663
To learn more: http://www.ua-rtip.org

11 DESERT HORTICULTURAL CONFERENCE MAY 16 IN TUCSON

The 17TH Annual Desert Horticultural Conference will be held May 16 at the Tucson Convention Center. It's the premier annual conference for all members of the southwest green industry: landscape architects, designers, growers, retailers, contractors, maintenance personnel, suppliers, and educators.

The event features timely, research-based information relevant for designing, building, maintaining, and producing plants for urban landscapes in the arid Southwest. Four concurrent sessions in 2008 include Arboriculture, Hot Topics/Green, Design, and Maintenance (Spanish translation available in Maintenance session).

Attendees can earn continuing education units for various professional organizations. Registration is $45 before May 1st and $70 thereafter.

Kathryn Hahne, Pima County Cooperative Extension, khahne@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/deserthort/

12 CONFERENCE ON COLORADO RIVER'S IMPORTANCE TO ARIZONA JUNE 24

The Water Resources Research Center at the UA, in collaboration with the Central Arizona Project, announces that registration is now open for their 2008 Annual Conference, "The Importance of the Colorado River to Arizona's Future," to be held June 24 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix.

This timely conference will look forward 40 years, to 2048, to answer the question; What will the Colorado River mean for Arizona's future? Conference topics include water use by major water-using sectors and regions; implications of drought on the Colorado River to Arizona; interstate and intrastate water banking and recovery; implementation of the Lower Colorado River Multispecies Conservation Program; and meeting the water needs of the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District.

The program will include presentations by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Bob Johnson, Central Arizona Project Board President Susan Bitter Smith, and Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Herb Guenther.

The complete agenda, along with registration information, can be found at the link below. Early Bird Registration (closes May 15) is $125. Beginning May 16th, registration will be $150. Reduced rates are available for students and a limited number of scholarships are available for County Extension personnel.

Jane Cripps, Water Resources Research Center, 520-792-9591
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/azwater/programs/conf2008

University of Arizona scientists have discovered that stimulating plants with electricity can induce them to produce certain chemicals--including some that are commercially useful--at a much higher rate than they normally would, and more efficiently than current methods allow.

These chemicals, called secondary metabolites, are used in a huge variety of ways. Food, dyes, poisons, perfumes and medicines come from them. Latex, herbs like ginseng and chamomile, medicines such as morphine, digitalis and steroids as well as nicotine and cocaine are all secondary metabolites whose production by plants could be increased by electricity.

To read the rest of this article from the April 1 Arizona Daily Star, see the link below.

Hans VanEtten, Division of Plant Pathology, vanetten@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/232283.php

14 CALS IN THE NEWS

GETTING WARMER
The Earth Day Network supplies a "Climate Change Fact Sheet" on its Web page. One of its statements declares: "Much of the United States has already warmed, by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit."

According to Michael Crimmins, assistant specialist in climate science at the UA, we haven't seen that type of dramatic increase around here--yet.

"In the Tucson area," Crimmins says of the last 10 years, "the temperature has risen a half to 1 degree Fahrenheit on average, especially in the summertime. That is certainly a significant trend." Despite this relatively tiny increase in average temperature, Crimmins points out two noticeable impacts brought about by climate change so far.

"We're certainly seeing (its effects) across Arizona in the last 10 years, with the most warm years ever, even at rural weather stations," he says. "With precipitation, we're seeing a lot of variability. In the last 10 years, there have been many dry winters and less summer rains."

Read the rest of this story that includes comments from CALS faculty members Michael Crimmins, Rob Call and Jeff Silvertooth in the April 17-23 edition of the Tucson Weekly: http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=109592

Michael Crimmins, Office of Arid Lands Studies, crimmins@u.arizona.edu
Rob Call, Cochise County Cooperative Extension, recall@ag.arizona.edu
Jeff Silvertooth, Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, silver@ag.arizona.edusilver@ag.arizona.edu

NASA/SPACE GRANT INTERNS CELEBRATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The University of Arizona played host this weekend to more than 100 college students from across the state at the 17th annual Arizona/NASA Space Grant Undergraduate Research Internship Program's statewide symposium.

The program began in 1988 after Congress passed the National Space Grant Act, and there are now programs in every state, said Susan Brew, manager of both the Arizona Space Grant Consortium and University of Arizona programs. "The symposium is the grand finale of the program," she said, "a celebration of their accomplishments."

Presentations came from students at the UA, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Pima Community College and South Mountain Community College. The presentations ran the gamut of science and engineering, from aerospace to biology and planetary science, as well as science education and public outreach.

Barron Orr, associate director of the UA program, said the program helps students "get a full research experience," an important part of which is sharing that research. "It's a chance to see how your peers in the scientific community react."

Read more from the April 21 Arizona Daily Star: http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/235265.php

Barron Orr, Office of Arid Lands Studies, barron@email.arizona.edu

UNCERTAINTIES ABOUND IN WATER PLANNING
Q Do you think it's good government here when we the people are told to accept, pay to clean up and use second-rate Colorado River water while ground water is used for agriculture?
A Good government depends on one's vantage point and I think the person posing this question has formulated his/her answer. Millions of people use Colorado River water. The laws and system of water rights authorize agriculture in the Active Management Areas to utilize groundwater for land that was irrigated during the 1975 through 1979 period. I think it is unlikely to envision a scenario that takes these rights away. Urban growth has reduced the number of acres in production in the Tucson Active Management Area.

Read the rest of this question-and-answer session conducted at the UA's forum on understanding growth in the Tucson region in the April 20 Arizona Daily Star: http://www.azstarnet.com/altds/pastframe/opinion/235018

Sharon Megdal, Arizona Water Resources and Research Center, smegdal@cals.arizona.edu

CALS PROFESSOR TO SPEAK AT "DAY OF SILENCE" EVENTS
This week's Day of Silence observances, held April 23-25 on the UA campus to promote rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, will include a memorial service to honor Lawrence King, an openly gay California teen who was killed earlier this year. Stephen Russell, a professor in the CALS John and Doris School of Family and Consumer Sciences who has studied the experiences of "sexual minorities" in school settings, will speak during the memorial for King Thursday night.

"When LGBT people, people of color, women--when these people feel uncomfortable and unsafe, it comes back to this place of privilege that others have," Russell said. "And for many people, that privilege is part of the majority culture." His work attempts to help schools and educators to become more responsive to the needs of LGBT youth and also responsiveness to the discrimination they face.

To learn more about the full range of events to be held April 23-25, see the rest of the article that appeared in UA News on April 21: http://uanews.org/node/19401.

Stephen Russell, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, strussell@ag.arizona.edu

ON 1,170 HIKES, SAME TRAIL, HE'S BOUND TO SEE CHANGES
It was love at first sight of stark, towering, reddish-brown cliffs that led David Bertelsen to start scaling the Finger Rock Trail in the Catalina Mountains' front range.

It was sheer curiosity that led Bertelsen to start recording every plant he saw up the five-mile trail to the top of Mount Kimball and to make the journey as often as once a week for more than 20 years.

But it is the reality of climate change that draws scientists to Bertelsen's data. A retired probation officer, he has no science degree. But several scientists say his discoveries on the Finger Rock Trail point to signs of ecological change due to global warming, drought, or both.

To read the rest of this story that appeared in the April 21 Arizona Daily Star, go to http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/235093.php

Theresa Crimmens, Office of Arid Lands Studies, theresam@email.arizona.edu

UA SCIENTISTS CRACK CORN GENOME
UA's BIO5 Institute laid some of the groundwork for the sequencing of the maize genome when it sequenced the rice genome a few years ago, says Rod Wing, a UA plant scientist and director of the UA's Plant Genomics Institute. ...

Now, scientists at the University of Arizona's BIO5 Institute, Washington University in St. Louis, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and Iowa State University have "looked under the hood" to decipher the genetic code that makes corn grow, adapt to conditions and resist or be susceptible to disease. The work was done under a $29.5 million National Science Foundation Grant over the last three years by more than 50 people, including 10 people working full time at the UA.

To read the rest of this story that appeared in the March 3 issue of the Arizona Daily Star, go to http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/227869.php

Rod Wing, BIO5 Institute, rwing@email.arizona.edu

UA ALUM IN TRADE DELEGATION TO SOUTH KOREA
Third-generation Arizona rancher Andy Groseta is in Seoul making the case for U.S. beef. Andy Groseta, the newly elected president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and a 1972 University of Arizona College of Agriculture graduate, was included in a U.S. delegation that attended the Feb. 25 inauguration of South Korean President-elect Lee Myung-bak.

To read the rest of the article that appeared in uanews.org, see http://uanews.org/node/18504

To find out about available CALS publications and upcoming events, go to http://cals.arizona.edu/. If you have questions or comments about NewsLine, send an email to newseditor@ag.arizona.edu. Previous issues can be viewed at http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/newsline/previous-issues.html

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